Dave Roberts clarifies remarks about travel from Canada

LOS ANGELES — Even the easiest travel days can be draining. But several Dodgers personnel had a hassle of a time returning from Canada, leading to manager Dave Roberts uttering a few words he would later regret.

While the team’s players arrived as scheduled early on Sunday morning on their plane, the one that contained the coaches was subjected to a lengthy delay on the trip from Toronto to L.A., making them late for the beginning of the off-day workout that began at 5 p.m. local time. So when Roberts finally arrived at Dodger Stadium, he was spent from a longer-than-expected travel day.

“I don’t want to get too far into it. I just arrived about 30 minutes ago, so there was some delays,” Roberts said Sunday. “I don’t know if there was intent or not. But, man, the international stuff was a bear. But we made it.”

The words came out of Roberts’ mouth accompanied by a wry smile and a knowing look in his eyes, nuance that did not come across when the latter part of his response — namely, questioning whether there was any “intent” — was dissected thoroughly online.

Even Blue Jays manager John Schneider, for whom all road trips require going through customs, got his two cents in on his counterpart in the opposing dugout.

“Thereâ€s travel delays all around the world,” Schneider said. “I think itâ€s easy to point fingers at us because weâ€re the only team not in the States. Weâ€ve had travel delays going from Boston to New York. Itâ€s not a big deal.â€

Roberts clarified his remarks ahead of Monday night’s World Series Game 3: No, he does not think the country of Canada orchestrated the delay to sabotage the Dodgers. And despite the frustration of the previous day, he harbors no ill will toward the United States’ neighbor to the north.

“I shouldn’t have said ‘intent,'” Roberts said. “I love Canada. I made the mistake of saying ‘intent.’ It was a long day, a long trip. I’m very grateful to be in the World Series. … It was my apologies sincerely.”

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